Sunday, June 10, 2007

Bignewhouse

It feels like summer at last. It is 89F (30C) right now and feeling a little steamy besides. We have had a day or two earlier in the year when the temperature exceeded 90 but this is different, at last. The plants are in full growth mode, it doesn't feel a single bit like a hot day in spring. It is a summer day.

It is also spouse ride day and we got out early, leaving the garage by 10:20. The wind kept us from trying the Bianchi Babe's much preferred northern route with the eight lakes. We rode south to the river and along the river road.

There are a couple of candidates for Lucas Davenport's bignewhouse along the River Road. Followers of the Prey series will know that his old house mostly burned up when it ended up being a crime scene at the end of one of the novels. The next book features a lot of talk about architect and builders and the bignewhouse.This is the Babe, this time with her own bicycle, the Bianchi, in front of one of the primary candidates. It is a tear down and re-build which was in progress about the time those two books came out and it is obviously a big house suitable for a software millionaire, albeit a software millionaire still working as a homicide detective.

Going all the way to the bignewhouse was a substantial increase in distance for the Babe but she held up very well and only once complained, and that was about a lack of shade in the industrial area that I now ride through on the way out and back to avoid riding through the from a bicycle perspective somewhat sketchy intersection of Raymond and University. She was chastised for complaining and thereafter acted contrite.

The weather has been marginal for bicycling (our neighbor Betsy who nearly every year rides TRAM recently reported that she has 34 miles so far this year). But it has been great for the corn.The geology guy at work is always including a hammer or a ball point pen in his rock photos. The geology people always say this is done for scale. Today's photo is of the corn with the Babe included for scale. As you can see, nearly knee high by the 10th of June. I suspect this bodes well for that 4th of July thing.

I think I may recycle a bit later.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is controversy here. I was NOT complaining for myself (although, I must admit I was a bit knackered and it was quite hot and sunny and earlier in the ride I did possibly mention that I might want to lie down at the side of the road, however, the side of the road was basically concrete). Perhaps it was more a matter of communication being fraught with peril. I merely commented on behalf of a woman jogger who looked really hot jogging in the industrial area.
I enjoyed the ride and being the "ball point pen" to provide scale.
BB

Anonymous said...

Looks like a nice ride. Nice bignewhouse, too. Good to hear that BB enjoyed the ride. I'll stay out of the controversy, thank you. Betsy has only ridden 34 miles?? (We saw the MS 150 riders this morning -- Tunnel Park was their 1st rest stop.) ~ SS
BTW, nice looking corn.

Jimi said...

I see that bignewhouse has a bigdeadelmtree in the front yard. I smell wood chipper.

Those corn plants look pretty healthy for this early in June. They'll probably grow faster in today's heat.

Anonymous said...

Jimi is pretty funny. ~ SS

Santini said...

Hmmmm....Am I off my meds again? Or did BB's post on her Xanga site disappear?